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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2019

Spencer Ralston

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: We're with Spencer Ralston, a 6 & 5 winner over Parker Coody. 6 & 5 sounds like you really played well and did a good job on somebody. Was it you playing really well and did you just step on it, or tell us about that?

SPENCER RALSTON: Yeah, I mean, Parker didn't play his best and up to his standards, but I didn't make any bogeys today, either. Birdied the first hole, and then I think I parred out after that. He kind of struggled getting some putts to fall, and I was making a lot of four- to eight-footers, so I think just mentally that kind of wears an opponent down.

Q. But advancement to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals, that's pretty good advancement for you. Where does that stand in your accomplishments in your golf career?
SPENCER RALSTON: It's up there, but I would like to prolong the week a little bit. Still two more days, so if I keep playing like I'm playing, I think I could have a shot.

Q. Pretty early win compared to the last two rounds of match play that you had; what are the two different takeaways you had from winning close matches versus winning a match where you played so well? What is there to improve on to keep continuing your run through the quarters, semis and into the final on Sunday?
SPENCER RALSTON: Like I was telling them out there, everyone at this level is a good player, so it's just kind of how your game matches up with theirs that day, and it's going to be a different match every time you play it. I think kind of into the match early -- I kind of struggled this morning. Speed wasn't good on the greens. Kind of made my match go a little longer than I wanted it to. But Julian played great, too, so we were just kind of battling back and forth.

I think this afternoon kind of making an adjustment with my speed a little bit allowed me to make a few more putts and end the match a little early, which will be good because we've got another 36-hole day tomorrow again possibly, so getting some rest could be huge for tomorrow.

Q. I know obviously your focus is on the U.S. Amateur, but winning The Players Amateur and making a statement here, you have to feel good about your Walker Cup chances?
SPENCER RALSTON: Yeah. I mean, kind of the only thing I could do right now is win the golf tournament. That would give me an automatic bid, I think. But I've played great. I've played good at the Western, too, just kind of had a rough third round. I shot 6-over the third round and missed out on match play by a couple. I've been playing really good the last few months, kind of ending the spring of the college season into summer golf.

I was telling them out there, one thing I think I've learned after winning my first college event and winning The Players Am is that you don't have to play perfect golf to win a golf tournament. I mean, I shot a couple over yesterday. I think I shot 4-over, and ended up moving on. This morning I shot 3- or 4-over again. I know match play is a little different, but just didn't have my best stuff. And then today, came out this afternoon and didn't make any bogeys, and today was a really good round this afternoon. But yeah, you don't have to play perfect golf. I think that's something I've figured out, and I think that's given me a lot of confidence mentally that I can compete.

Q. I watched you at Berkeley Hall when you came from 11 back to win that. Just curious to see after that win, the WAGA moved up quite a bit, but you went through the qualifying at Jennings Mill where you were in that playoff. You knew that you were going to get in, or what was that playoff like with Jacob Solomon?
SPENCER RALSTON: So I actually didn't -- I think headed into that week, I was just inside the top 40. I think they were taking the top 5 out of the top 50. I had moved in just inside the top 40. But then I gradually kind of trended backwards, and I think that week of the qualifier I had moved back a couple spots. I was still inside the top 50, but I was like kind of going to be close and all that stuff. I guess it went three playoff holes and Maxwell Ford from just north of Atlanta, me and him are good buddies, and he ended up making a birdie on the third playoff hole, and I think Jacob made like a 7 on the second playoff hole, and the other guy made an 8, so they were both eliminated, but he got the second alternate. Me and him are really good friends, too, and we just kept on talking like -- he's like, no, I'm not going to get in, and I think he was thinking about turning pro already, and I got a call I think the day after the qualifier, I think I had gotten in off my alternate spot, and I don't know if that moved him to first alternate or what happened. And he ended up calling me once he got in the other day, like I got in. He's like, I don't know how that happened. I'm like, I have no clue, either, but make the best of it. I think he lost his match this morning, but he had a good week, as well.

Q. So you left that golf course parking lot quite disappointed about being the first alternate.
SPENCER RALSTON: Yeah, it's a golf course we play a lot at the University of Georgia. It's one of our home courses, so I knew it really well. I shot 5-under the first day and even the second day, I think, with a triple and a double. I just hit a couple bad drives, hit one out of bounds, and just kind of compounded errors. So once I got done, I really felt like I was kind of beating myself up because I mean, I had it, and just kind of hit some errant shots and compounded errors, which you can't really do.

Q. I know slow play has been a hot button issue on the PGA TOUR, and granted, the college and amateur game has always been a little bit slower on its own. Did you see anything this week whether it might have been the difficulty or the amount of golf you guys had to play the last couple days? Have you seen any sort of slow play transitioning this week or even any amateur events this summer at all?
SPENCER RALSTON: I'd say all the big time amateur events that we play during the summer have a really good pace of play policy. It's hot, it's not easy to get around some of these golf courses, so I think it's done pretty well. But this week, I don't think it's as much guys being slow as it is figuring out what they're going to do because there's a lot of creativity around the greens here, so once they kind of do that, I think they play pretty quick, but it's just trying to figure out what kind of shot you're going to hit may slow up play a little bit here and there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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